Live Simply
Even the heart brake can yield a harvest.
Fredrick, the last guinea fowl died Valentines day, which is rather fitting. I think he might have been a little suicidal after the death of his flock at the paws of the husky. He was never at peace. Didn’t want to live with the chickens even though he had been raised with some of them.
He would hang with the sheep, but more often then not he would be out by the cars, looking at his reflection in the paint. Other wise he would hang in a little spot I made him with a mirror and shinny trash can.
He was lonely that was obvious. Why he would do things like this:
Not as obvious.
I found him Valentines morning dead in his coop. It was one of the coldest days this year but he was rooming with 3 other chickens all of whom are fine.
He was frozen solid. He looked like he just laid his head down and went to sleep. It was very sad but we can hope he is with his family. Now, we were left with a problem. The ground was still frozen.
The oldest boy has been studying ancient Egypt and we came up with the idea to give him a king’s burial. Complete with stone monument. This offered several advantages; we could unearth the stones, creating the chamber while getting the materials for his temple.
I got some natural clay and we set to work making him a sarcophagus.
We lit candles and sage to help him on his journey into the afterlife. I took his wings and they are bing preserved with corn meal and salt. We clipped his feathers to be used for later projects.
In a world where 15 feathers cost more than a couple bucks at the craft store, I thought it a wise choice.
At that rate we got a couple hundred dollars of plumage.
We sealed the sarcophagus.
It even got a cobra at his feet for extra special protection. We moved on to carving runes and then to painting.
As always, the boys did a great job!
We had a procession outside and laid him to rest a little back into the forest.
We all worked together fitting the stones together into a complete structure.
And that brings me to my photo for this week.
The finished Temple of Fredrick. It is pretty darn solid.
I hope that our efforts help him find peace. We have not decided if we will get more fowl this year. For now we will let things settle.
Be well!
A terrific idea by your son and a beautiful ceremony for Fredrick. This was an especially sweet post, very touched by it and completely understand being a human watching and hoping to understand animal behaviour and feelings. It sounds like Fredrick’s transition was a peaceful one. Xx
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Why thank you! It was a good way to end a sad life. We do all we can and sometimes it is just not enough, all things pass on eventually and many before you are ready. Be well!
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Oh bless you all for giving him such a wonderful send off. This is quite my favourite solid picture. I think the sarcophagus is perfect.
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Aww. Thank you! It was very fun and so nice to share a love of Egypt with the boys. I used to keep a diary in hieroglyphs when I was his age. Because I am a BIG dork! Thanks again for letting me play, I need to catch up on my missing week 🙂 Be well!
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Such a wonderful post full of heart and soul. Years ago we did a simlar lying in state and burial ceremony for an ancient and much loved cat. Thank you for the memory. I will add your post to the SOLID round up. Thank you for entering.
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Thank you!
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Thank you! My name is Ember in real life 🙂 Thank you for the link!
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What a beautiful and unusual name. Thanks for letting me know.
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